1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to internet applications, and particularly to accessing applications available over the internet through an internet-based social network.
2. Description of Related Art
Applications currently available over the internet are typically accessed by individual computer users on servers. Recently, “widgets” have been made available to allow information from a social network to be used by a third-party application available to a user who is also using the social network. A “widget” is a single access point in the user's social network, connecting the user and the application. The user's interface with the application is not personalized to the user.
The prior art does not provide a platform from which a user of a computing device in an internet-based social network may access one or more applications available over the internet, in which the user's interaction with the application is personalized based on information about the user that is available from the social network. It is also desirable for the social network to provide more than a single access point connecting the user and the application, so that the features of the application may be more fully integrated into the user's experience of the social network.